Uh oh... green words to be banished from the dictionary!

Every year, Lake Superior State University issues a new "List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness." Sounds like fun! What have we got here? Uh oh... environmental buzzwords are out. In fact, "green" and "going green" were the most nominated words to banish from the dictionary. Maybe we'll need a new name, 'cause we wouldn't want Ed Hardiman of Bristow, VA to follow through with his threat to burn tires in his backyard. Also on the chopping block are "carbon footprint" and "carbon offsetting," something that's near and dear to all of our hearts, right? Outside of green grammar but still related to cars, everyone's weary of hearing about the "bailout," and the masses are also tired of talking about "Wall Street" versus "Main Street." Any other words or phrases that should be removed from our lexicon?
[Source: Lake Superior State University]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
oollyoumn 10:59AM (1/01/2009)
"Clean diesel". Until a diesel can get an EPA Air Pollution Score of 8 or better it's not very clean. This phrase ranks right up there with "Pork, the other white meat", "Clean coal" and "Soup is good food". They may all be effective marketing campaigns, but grossly misleading.
Reply
diffrunt 2:43PM (1/01/2009)
politicians, bankers & Gore
Reply
B J Deller 3:31PM (1/03/2009)
There are many such words that have been robbed from the original meamings, one being gay. I have nothing against homosexuals and in fact we some good aquaintances/friends who are quietly gay men having lived together for decades but I do object where generally homosexuals use such words, also often implying that they are better than us normal mortals and are very happy about their condition when their actions tend to prove the opposite. Our friends treat my wife and I as just friends as we do them and I respect them for that but both, now retired, were professional people and are not overtly gay, screaming "homophobia" at all of us who lead lives as Nature intended. As for rthe geatest recent con-man second only to Madoff, Al Gore is to be admired for being believed that CO2 is responsible for Global Warming" as we' now all l freeze here in the Norhern Hemisphere, giving the politicians another means of taxing us dry. We will look back in the years to come and realise the truth then thast te Solar activity has moved on again, but I do agree with reducuing pollution for our health's sake but not at any cost. Expect on continents such as Africa where there is plenty of suitable land to grow enough food as proven when te Europeans farmed there, for the leaders to scream for food aid in a few years, necessary in their arguments due to the West causing their drought problems they hhave alwaysd there but were overcome with by the white Africans until they were kickd out by the greedy new leaders re Zimbabwe.
Reply
Daisy 7:31PM (1/03/2009)
Can we ban the phrase "excellence in education?" If everyone is excellent, no one is.
Reply
Steve 3:31PM (1/09/2009)
Please tell me the phrase "not so much" is really dead and that the people who still say it are just digging up a zombie word.
For example:
The other deathrow words I can deal with but this one? "not so much".
(if it is still alive, please sentence it to death immediately)
Reply